Caballero de Paris
2009 Resolutions
#1 My editor has to have Alicia Alonso's manuscript by the end of January. So after the residency at Whidbey Island MFA, I need to concentrate, concentrate, concentrate.
#2 I promised my editor to research Salvador Dali and la Virgen de Guadalupe.
#3 I will write a book on the Gentleman of Paris.
#4 I will go to the ALA summer conference.
#5 I will speak about my new book, Diego: Bigger Than Life.
#6 I will help my students as much as my mentors helped me.
#7 I will blog every other Thursday.
#8 I will update my website or design a new one.
#9 I will add my book covers to Facebook.
#10 I will enjoy my writing journey and learn when walking through every path.
3 comments:
Carmen,
This is a very comprehensive list of resolutions! I especially like #6: I will help my students as much as my mentors helped me. I'm sure your students will greatly appreciate that.
And I, for one, believe you will accomplish all these!
Carmen,
Your presentation at the Whidbey Writers Workshop (Write What You Know? How Boring!") raised an interesting point: writing fiction requires research. As disappointing as it is to know I can't just pull stories out of my you-know-what, I find that truth is a hard sell when it comes to critique groups. Cries of "That can't happen!"--even though it can and has--forces the fiction writer to falsify reality in order to make it believable. In a way, truth can rob fiction of its credibility. So, basically, we can research the facts, but they darn well better jive with the reader's perception of truth.
Non-fiction, on the other hand, seems to make room for unbelievability in order to capture the interest of readers. We saw this in James Frey's "memoir." He said no one would publish "A Million Little Pieces" as fiction. But as non-fiction, people ate it up.
I'm not sure what any of this has to do with your 2009 Resolutions, except to maybe go easy on your students when the facts of their stories don't ring true enough for fiction.
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